Exlovers - Moth
- By Robyn Lynch -
- Jun 11, 2012
With a name like Exlovers, one would expect this London based band’s sound to be full of woeful regrets and bitter, twisted melodies. Quite the opposite can found on Exlovers debut album ‘Moth’, a strong 90s influence throughout, this shoe-gaze offering is full of dreamy pop fun and landscaping riffs. As scuzzy in parts as it is delicate, a combination of male and female vocals break even the Exlovers sound.
Releasing their first single last year through indie label Chess Club after a string of shows that led to a set at the NME Awards Show in 2009, Exlovers are now to release their debut album through the almighty Young & Lost Club record label. Working on the album with Demian Castellanous and Jimmy Robertson, who helped The Big Pink and Florence and the Machine find their feet, the band have also toured with Noah and the Whale.
Opening with a rolling drum pop, first track ‘Starlight, Starlight’ encompasses the drifting, visionary sound that spreads across the rest of the album. Instantly whisking the mind away to another land, the infectiously dreamy sound stays on just the right side of twee. Grazing guitar sounds are soothed over by the whispering vocals of Laurel Sills and Peter Scott while drums tinker in the background.
Single ‘This Love Will Lead You On’ is a slower paced yet more emotion filled affair that loops and hops with insecurity. Wrapping into itself with a hazy yet glorious guitar rift a huge pop influence can be heard that makes this a stand out track of ‘Moth’. Third track ‘Emily’ hears Exlovers take a sadder turn with twists of melancholy and despair, showcasing the bands ability to play on both sides of the shoe-gaze tracks.
Deepening further down the stairs of sorrow mid album songs ‘Unlovable’ and ‘I Wish We’d Never Met’ show the more sensitive side of Exlovers in these ballads of heartbreak. Simpering and brooding in an angst filled veil that would suit overcast afternoon listening, this darker face of Exlovers is as intriguing, if not more so, than their happy go lucky side.
Picking up the tempo to close the album ‘You’re So Quiet’ is an infectious jangle with a surf influenced guitar build up and clap along drum beat. Following is the eight minute long finisher ‘The Ruins’ with soothing vocal harmonies and xylophone tinkers to sound like rain in the first half and loud scuzzy guitars in the second.
A world away from the grey streets of London in which Exlovers formed, debut album ‘Moth’ is the work of a band whose sound is as head in the clouds innocent as it is saddening with darkness. An ability to scale emotions and sounds with a playful ease, Exlovers have crafted a wonderful debut album.
8/10
By Robyn Lynch.
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